Acts and Monuments Volume 2 Part 2, Book 11 · Account 22 · Oration 4
The Oration of Byshop Brookes in closing vp this examination agaynst Doctour Cranmer Archbishop of Caunterbury.
MAister Cranmer, I cannot otherwise terme you cō sidering your obstinacy, I am right sory, I am ryght hartely sory to heare suche wordes escape your mouthe so vnaduisedly.… I had conceaued a right good hope of your amendement: I supposed that this obstinacy of youres came not of a vayne glory, but rather of a corrupte conscience, which was the occasion that I hoped so well of your returne. But now I perceaue by your foolish bable, that it is farre otherwise. Ye are so puffed vp with vayn glory there is such a cauteria of heresie crept into your conscience, that I am cleane voyd of hope, and my hope is turned into perdition? who can saue that which will be lost? GOD woulde hauehave you to be saued, and you refuse it. Perditio tua super te Israel, tantummodo in me saluatio tua, ait Dominus per Prophetam. i. Thy perdition is onelyonly vponupon thy selfe, O Israell: onelyonly in me is thy saluation, sayth the Lord by hys Prophet. You hauehave vttered so erronious talke, with such open malice agaynst the popes holines, with such open liyng against the church of Rome, with such open blasphemy agaynst the sacrament of the Aultar, that no mouthe could hauehave expressed more maliciously, more lyingly, more blasphemously.
To reason with you, although I would of my selfe to satisfie this audience,… yet may I not by our Commission, neither can I finde how I may doe it with the scriptures: For the Apostle doth commaund that suche a one shoulde not onelyonly not be talked withall, but also shunned and auoyded saying: Hereticum hominem post vnum aut alterum conuentum, deuita, sciens quòd huiusmodi peruersus est & delinquit, quum sit proprio iudicio condemnatus. i. An heretical person after once or twise conferring, shunne, knowing yt he is peruerse and sinneth, being of his owne iudgement condemned. Ye hauehave bene conferred withall not once or twise, but oftentimes, ye hauehave oft bene louingly admonyshed, ye hauehave bene oft secretly disputed with. And the last yeare in the opē schoole, in open disputations ye hauehave bene openly conuict, ye hauehave bene openly driuen out of ye schole with hisses, your bookes which ye bragge you made seuen yeares agoe, and no man aunswered it: Marcus Antonius hath sufficiently detected and confuted, and ye persist styll in your wonted heresie.
Wherefore being so oft admonished, conferred withal, and conuicted) if ye deny you to be the manne whome the Apostle noteth, heare then what Origine sayth, who wrote aboue 1300. yeares ago: and interpreteth the saying of the Apostle in this wise, in Apologia Pamphili. Origines in Apologia Pamphili.Hereticus est omnis ille habendus, qui Christo se credere profitetur & aliter de Christi veritate sentit quàm se habet Ecclesiastica traditio. Euen now ye professed a kinde of Christianitie and holines vntounto vsus, for at your beginning you fell downe vppon youre knees, and sayde the Lordes prayer (God wotte lyke an hipocrite) and then standing vppon youre feete, you rehearsed the articles of your fayth, but to what end I pray you els, but to cloke that inwarde heresie rooted in you that you might blind the poore simple and vnlearned peoples eyes? For what will they say or thinke, if they do not thus say? Good Lord, what meaneth these men to say that he is an hereticke, they are deceiued, this is a good Christian, he beleueth as we beleue.
But is this sufficient to escape the name of an hereticke? To the simple and vnlearned it is sufficient,What an hereticke is, after th… Popes making. but for you that hauehave professed a greater knowledge and hygher doctrine, it is not enoughe to recite your beliefe. For vnlesse (as Origine sayth) yee beleeue all thynges that the Churche hath decreed besides, you are no Christian man. In the whiche because you doe halte and wyll come to no conformitie: from henceforthe yee are to bee taken for an hereticke, with whome wee ought neither to dispute, neyther to reason, whom we ought rather to eschew and auoyd.
Neuerthelesse, althoughe I doe not entende to reason with you, but to geue you vp as an abiect and outcast frō Gods fauour, yet because yee hauehave vttered to the annoying of the people such pestilent heresies as may do harme among some rude and vnlearned, I thinke meete and not abs re, somewhat to say herein: not because I hope to hauehave any good at your handes, which I would willingly wysh but that I may establish the simple people whiche be here present, least they being seduced by youre diabolicall doctrine, may pearish thereby.
And first (as it behoueth eueryevery man to purge himselfe first before he enter with anye other) where you accuse me of an othe made agaynst the Byshop of Rome, I confesse it and deny it not, and therefore do say with the rest of this Realme, good and catholicke men, the saying of the Prophet: Pec cauimus cum patribus nostris, iniustè egimus, B. B…ookes r… canteth his oth made to the king agaynst the Pope.iniquitatem fecimus. i. Wee hauehave sinned with oure fathers: wee hauehave done vniustly, and wickedlye. Delicta inuentutis meae, & ignorantias meas ne memineris Domine. i. The sinnes of my youth, and my ignoraunces, O Lord doe not remember. I was then a young man, and as young a scholer here in the vniuersitie.
I knew not then what an othe did meane, and yet to saye the truthe, I did it compulsed, compulsed I saye by you Mayster Cranmer, and here were you the authoure and cause of my periury, you are to be blamed herein, and not I. Now where you say I made two othes, the one contrary to the other, it is not so, for the othe I made to the Popes holinesse, appertayneth onelyonly to spirituall thinges. The other othe that I made to the king, pertayneth onelyonly to Temporall thinges: that is to saye, that I doe acknowledge all my temporall liuinges to proceede onelyonly from the kinge and from none els. But all menne may see, as you agree in this, so ye agree in the rest of your opinions.
Now sir, as concerning the Supremacye whiche is onelyonly dew to the sea of Rome, a worde or two.Supremacye. Althoughe there be a number of places whiche do confirme that christ appoynted Peter head of the Churche, yet this is a moste euident place. When Christe demaunded of his Apostles whom men called him: they aunswered: some Elias, some a Prophet. &c. But Christe replyed to Peter, and sayde: Whome sayest thou Peter that I am? Peter aunswered: Tu es Christus silius Dei, and Christ replyed: Tu es Petrus & super hanc Petram aedificabo aecclesiam meam. The Doctours enterpreting this place, super hanc Petram expounded it, id est, non solum super fidem Petri sed super te Petre. And why did Christ chaunge his name from Simon to Peter, The Church builded vponupon Peter.whiche in latine is a stone, but onelyonly to declare that he was onelyonly the foundation and head of the Churche.
Agayne, where Christe demaunded of Peter beyng amongst the rest of his Apostles 3. tymes a rew, Petre amas me▪ he gaue him charge ouer his sheep Pasce oues meas pasce agnos meos. Whiche place Chrysostome interpreting sayth, Pasce, hoc est, loco mei esto praepositus & caput fratrum tuorū. To conclude, when they came that required Didrachina of Christ, he commaunded Peter to cast his net into the sea,[Pasce] expoū ded by Chrisostome. and to take out of the fishes mouth that hee tooke staterem hoc est duplex Didrachma, & da inquit pro te & me Petre Whiche wordes do signifie, that when hee had payed for them two, he had payd for all the rest. For as in ye old law there were appoynted two heades ouer the people of Israell, Moyses and Aaron, Moises as chiefe, and Aaron nexte head vnderunder him: so in the new law there were two heads of the church, which were Christ and Peter, Christ is head of all, and Peter next vnderunder him. S. Austine in 75. questione Veteris & noui Testamenti, Saluator (inquit) qùum pro se & Petro dari iubebat Didrachma, Aug. Quest. 75.pro omnibus ipsum dari censuit, ipsum enim constituit caput eorum. i. Our Sauiour Christ (sayth S. Austine) commaunding the tribute to be geuen for hym and for Peter, meant thereby the same to be geuen for all other, for hee appoynted hym to be head of them. What can be more plaine then this? But I will not tary vponupon this matter.
Nowe, as touching the Popes lawes, where you saye, they be contrary, because ye seruice which should be (as you say) in English,Seruice in latin. is in Latine: I aunswere, who soeuer wil take the paynes to peruse the chapter, which is the xiiii. of the first to the Corinthians, shall finde, that his meaning is concerning preaching, and Obiter onelyonly of praying.
Againe, where you say, that the Popes holinesse dothe take away one part of the sacrament from the lay men,Sacrament in one kind. & Christ would hauehave it vnderunder both, ye can saye no more but this: Bibite ex eo omnes. Drinke ye all of thys: And what followeth: Et biberunt ex eo omnes. i. And all drinke therof. Now if a man would be so pro…er…e with you, he might say that Christ gaue it onelyonly to his Apostles, in whose places succeeded priestes, and not lay men.
And admit that Christ commaunded it to bee receaued vnderunder both kindes,Authoritye of the Church in changing rites. yet the Churche hathe authoritie to chaunge that, as well as other. Ye read, that Christ calling his Apostles together, sayd vntounto them: Ite praedicate Euangelium omni nationi baptizantes in nomine patris, & filij, & spiritus sancti. i. Go & preach the Gospell to eueryevery natiō, baptising them in the name of the father, of the sonne, and the holy ghost. But the Apostles being desirous to publish christes name eueryevery where, did baptise onelyonly in Christes name. Agayne, Christ before his last Supper washed his Apostles feete, saying: Si ego laui pedes vestros dominus & magister, & vos debetis alter alterius lauare pedes. i. If I hauehave washed youre feet being your Lord and mayster, also you ought to washe the feete one of an other. Exemplum dedi vobis. i. I hauehave geuen you example. This was a precept, yet hath ye churche altered it, lest ye simple people should not thinke a rebaptization in it. So because sayd ye Apostle: Accepi à Domino quod & tradidi vobis, Rites and ceremonyes Subiect to the dispositiō of the Church.Dominus noster qua nocte tradebatur. &c. i. I hauehave receyued of the Lord the same whyche I hauehave deliuered to you, that our Lorde the same night in whiche hee was betrayed. &c. Notwithstanding that this was a precept that the sacrament should be ministred after supper, the church hath altered it, & commanded it to be receiued fasting. And where Christ did breake the breade, wee receaue the whole hoste. Christ ministred sitting at the table, we stāding at ye altar.
It was also commaunded in the xv. of the Actes, that Christian men should absteyne à suffocato & sanguine. i. Frō strangled and bloud. But the Church perceiuing it to bee a precept but for a tyme, hath altered ix. Christ commaunded to keep holy, Diem Sabbati The Sabboth day, and the church hath altered it to Sonday. If then the church may change thinges that be so expressed in the scriptures, she may also chaunge the forme of receauing of lay menne vnderunder bothe kindes, for diuers occasions.
First, because in carying to the sicke, the bloud may not be shed,Reasons why lay men receaue not vnderunder both kindes. lost, or misused.
And next, that no occasion might be geuen to hereticks to thinke that there is not so muche vnderunder one kinde, as vnderunder both.
But why woulde you hauehave it vnderunder bothe kyndes, I pray you els, but onelyonly to peruert and contrarye the commandement of ye church? For when you had it vnderunder both kindes, you beleued in neither. And wee hauing but one, beleue both kinds. Now sir, as concerning the sacrament of the altar, where you say, you hauehave a number of Doctors of your side, and we none of our side, that is to say, to confirme the reall presence of Christ in the sacrament of the altar, in deede one to stop your mouth, I thinke it not possible to finde. Neuerthelesse, where your request is to hauehave one shewed vntounto you, and then you will recant, I will shew you two.
Reall presence proued by B. Brookes.S. Augustine Super. 33. Psalme, ferebatur manibus suis: I finde not how this is true in Dauid (sayth hee) litterallye, that he was borne in hys owne handes, but in Chryste I finde it litterally, when hee gaue his body to his Apostles at hys last supper.
Agayn S. Ciprian De Coena Domini, sayth: Panis quem dominus noster discipulis suis porrigebat, August. Psal. 33. Cyprian De Coena Domini.non effigie, sed natura mutatus, omnipotētia verbi factus est caro. What can be more plain thē this? yet to your expositiō it is not plain enough. But geue me your figuratiue, significatiue and such other like termes, and I will defend that Christ hath not yet ascended: no nor yet that he was encarnate. &c. Wherfore … can doe no other but put you in the number of thē, whō Chrisostome spake of in this wise, saying: Audi homo fidelis qui cōtra haereticum contendis, si Pharisaei conuicti, & non placati & haeretici. &c. Heare, O thou Christian man: wy…te yu do more then Christ could do? Christ confuted the Phariseis, yet coulde hee not put them to scilence: Et fortior es tu Christo? And art thou stronger then Christ? Wilt thou goe about to bring them to silence that will receaue no aunswere? as who should saye, thou canste not. Thus muche hauehave I sayd, not for you M. Cranmer, for my hope that I conceaued of you, is now gone and past, but in somewhat to satisfie the rude and vnlearned people, that they perceiuing your arrogant lying and lying arrogancie, maye the better eschew your detestable and abhominable schisme.
And thus ended the Prelate his worshipful tale. After whome Doctor Story taketh the matter, and thus inferreth in wordes, as followeth.
Maister Cranmer,D. Story… talke to th… Archb. you hauehave made a goodly processe concerning your hereticall othe made to the king, but you forget your othe made to the Sea Apostolicke. As concerning youre othe made to the kinge, if you made it to hym onelyonly, it tooke an end by his death, and so it is released: if you made it to his successors, well sir, the true successours hauehave the Empyre, and they will you to dissolue the same, and become a member of Christes Church agayne, and it standeth well with charitie.
To this the Archbishop aunswered agayne, sayth the Reporter: but what his answere was, that he suppresseth and returneth to ye words of D. Story, who imperiouslye turning his speach agayne to the Archbishop, sayd as followeth.
Holde your peace sir, and so shall it right wel become you, considering that I gaue you licēce before,3. Thinges required in an othe. to say your phansie, Your othe was no othe, for it lacked the three poyntes of an othe, that is to say, Iudicium, Iustitiam, & Veritatem.
These with the like words to the same effect being vttered by D. Story, seeking to breake vp and make an end of that session,D. Story calleth for witnesses. he eftsoones called for witnesses to bee producted, who shuld be sworne vponupon the book, to vtter & declare the next day, what soeuer they knew, or could remē ber to be inferred against Doct. Cranmers heresie. The names of the witnesses were these.
Doct. Marshall, Commissary, & Deane of Christes church.
Doctor Smith, vnderunder Commissary.
Doct. Tresham.
Doct. Crooke.
M. London.
M. Curtop.Witnesses sworne agaynst the Archb.
M. Warde.
M. Serles.
After the depositions of whiche witnesses being taken Doct. Story admonished the archbyshop, permitting him to make hys exceptiōs, if he thought any of the sayd witnesses to be refused. Who thē would admit none of thē all,The Archb. refuseth those Iurates periured▪ being men periured, and not in Christian religion. For if to sweare (sayd he) agaynst the Pope were vnlawful, they should rather hauehave geuen theyr liues, then their othe. But if it were lawfull, then are they periured, to defende hym whome they forsware before. Neuerthelesse, this answere of the Archb. being lightly regarded, as little to the purpose appertayning,The Archb. sent agayne to Bocardo. hee was commaunded agayne to the place from whence he came. Who at hys departynge out, like as at his first comming in, shewed lowe obedience to Doct. Martin, and to Doct. Story, the Queenes Cōmissioners. Then Doct. Story poynting him to the Byshop of Glocester, sayd, yt he ought rather to geue reuerence vntounto him.The Archb. agayne ge…ueth no reuerence to the Popes Delegate. So the reuerend archb. departing without anye obeysaunce exhibited to the Byshop all the other rose vp, & departed eueryevery one to hys owne. And thus brake vp the session for this day, about two of the clocke at after noone.
And thus much hitherto concerning the summary effect of this Action or session, with the Orations, discourses, & articles commenced agaynst the Archbishop of Canterb. also with the reasons and answers of the sayd Archbishop to their obiections and interrogatoryes. Touching which his aunsweres,The aunsweres … the Archb. not indifferently reported. for somuch as they being recited by report of a papist (as is aforesayd) seeme to bee not indifferentlye handled, it shal therefore not greatly be out of our matter, as ye hauehave heard the Orations of Byshop Brokes, with the reasons, & talk of the other Commissioners, amplified and set forth at large on the one side, so now in repeatyng the wordes & answeres of the other part, to declare & sette forth somewhat more amply and effectually, what speach the sayd Archb. vsed for himselfe in the same Action, by the faythfull relation and testimonye of certayne other, who were lykewise there present and do thus report the effect of the Archbishops wordes, aunswering to the first Oration of Bishoppe Brookes, in manner as followeth.